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Thursday, June 30, 2011

Hello Everyone,
The agenda for this Friday's Hopkinton Networkers Group (HNG) meeting will be featured by our speaker, Wendy Gelberg. The facilitator for this week will be Gil Krispien. We will devote the first hour, from 10 to 11 AM to the following agenda: Welcome, Landings, Announcements, New Member Intros, and Needs & Leads. Please arrive early, so we can make every effort to start on time. In the second hour, Wendy will talk about "Personal Branding."

"Personal Branding"

Most of us are familiar with the concept of "brand" as it relates to the products we buy or the companies we do business with - but how does that relate to the notion of "personal branding" in your career or job search? In her talk on "Personal Branding," Wendy will define what personal branding is all about so you can take charge of your brand and have it work for you. You'll learn specific steps on how to define and communicate your brand to increase the probability that appropriate professional opportunities find you.

About Wendy Gelberg:

Wendy Gelberg is the founder of Gentle Job Search/Advantage Resumes and author of The Successful Introvert: How to Enhance Your Job Search and Advance Your Career. She is a certified career coach and resume writer whose expertise is in helping people who are uncomfortable "tooting their own horn." Wendy gives workshops, coaches individuals, and writes articles and blogs on all aspects of the job search process. Samples of her resumes and career advice appear in over 20 books. Wendy has owned her business for over 12 years. She has been an introvert her whole life. Contact Wendy at wendy@gentlejobsearch.com.

The networking group meets in Hopkinton, at St. John the Evangelist Church parish hall. The meeting occurs, from 10 to 12 noon, and will meet the first and third Friday of the month. The parish hall has a capacity for 250 people and there is plenty of parking spaces in the parking lot and on the street. Around the perimeter of the parish hall are rooms to allow us to have focused network groups or for any other purpose we need. We chose every other Friday to allow everyone to attend the Acton Networking Group or any other networking group, if they wanted, on the Friday we do not meet.

We will maintain our close affiliation with Acton Networkers by using the same list-server to share information between the groups. Any e-mails specific to the Hopkinton Networking Group (HNG) will be indicated in the subject line either by "Hopkinton Networking Group" or "HNG"; this way anyone attending these meetings will know the e-mail is intended for them.

We will follow the following agenda items:
Welcome
Landings (with doughnuts)
Announcements
New member introductions
Needs and Leads
Speaker(s), Workshop, or Focus Group
Cleanup

For those new members who give their introductions, this is what we would like to know:
Name
Skills and Value Statement
Where have you been?
Where are you going?
Your title
Your target companies
Geography of search
Name and e-mail address

If anyone wants to join our team, please let one of us know; we could always use the extra help and input for ideas.

Directions:
Take Rt. 495 North/South and get off Exit 21A. Go through three traffic lights. Colella's Supermarket is on the right at the third traffic light. The first street after the third traffic light is Church Street, take a right turn. The church is on the right. Go around to the left of the parking lot and go into the side entrance of the parish hall.

Depending upon where you live, perhaps you may want to use Mapquest for a more direct route. The address of the church is:
St. John the Evangelist
20 Church Street
Hopkinton, MA 01748

Thursday, June 23, 2011

The intent of this blog post was not to convince you to delete Foursquare yourself but to reconsider your own ROI of being active on various social media sites or utilizing certain social media tools that might provide a lot of eye candy or seem fun at the time but might not have much tangible benefits to you. From a corporate social media marketing perspective, there are compelling ways of using Foursquare and engaging with their 10 million users as part of your marketing mix and social media efforts, but I will save that content for a future blog post.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

In May of 2011, the total level of employment in California at 15.947 million is actually lower than it was in May of 2000, at 15.975 million. That’s not only a lost decade, but most important of all, that’s an entire decade in which the obligations of pension funds, state debt, private debt, and costs rose–but can no longer be supported by wage growth, or revenues. A depression need not be a Great Depression. However, a depression is certainly distinct from a recession—the business cycle variety that marked the post-war era.

It frankly doesn’t matter that some states, or even the United States, created non-farm jobs since the lows of 2009.

The US economy is a large system that employed over 146 million at its peak last decade. Now, having added nearly 30 million to its population over the 10 years, the US employs 6-7 million people less than in 2005. The implications for the operating costs of this system, from Social Security to Defense Spending are obvious.

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

Massachusetts residents who've been unemployed longer than 86 weeks will no longer be eligible for jobless benefits starting July 9, as a result of the state's falling unemployment rate. The change will lead to the loss of benefits for 6,500 unemployed residents as of that date, according to the state workforce office. Another 13,500 residents are within 13 weeks of the cutoff — meaning that more residents could be impacted soon if they're unable to find jobs. Currently, residents can receive 93 weeks of unemployment benefits in total, which includes both state and federal unemployment...

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Hello Everyone,
The agenda for this Friday's Hopkinton Networkers Group (HNG) meeting will be featured by our speaker, Abby Grant. The facilitator for this week will be William Lam, which will be his last because he will be delving into training as an insurance agent. We will devote the first hour, from 10 to 11 AM to the following agenda: Welcome, Landings, Announcements, New Member Intros, and Needs & Leads. Please arrive early, so we can make every effort to start on time. In the second hour, Abby will talk about "How to use the Boston Business Journal as a Job Search Tool."

How to Use the Boston Business Journal as a Job Search Tool:
How can we more effectively use resources such as the Boston Business Journal (BBJ) as a tool in a job search? The Boston Business Journal is the leading business publication covering regional business. You will discover how to turn up job leads and connect with leading industries and top executives. All attendees will receive a 4 Week Free Trial Subscription to the BBJ and a copy of the current issue.

About Abby Grant:

Abby brings a unique perspective with a background in recruiting and recently completed her own job search. She has close to 20 years working in the communications field including publishing, advertising and public relations. Abby currently works in the Circulation Group at the Boston Business Journal - Boston's premier business publication. Prior to that, she was with Hollister, a Boston-based recruiting and staffing firm, conducting business development for the creative and marketing group. She has held business development and account management roles for several Boston-based public relations and advertising agencies. Abby holds a B.A. from the University of New Hampshire and a M.A. from Emerson College.

The networking group meets in Hopkinton, at St. John the Evangelist Church parish hall. The meeting occurs, from 10 to 12 noon, and will meet the first and third Friday of the month. The parish hall has a capacity for 250 people and there is plenty of parking spaces in the parking lot and on the street. Around the perimeter of the parish hall are rooms to allow us to have focused network groups or for any other purpose we need. We chose every other Friday to allow everyone to attend the Acton Networking Group or any other networking group, if they wanted, on the Friday we do not meet.
We will maintain our close affiliation with Acton Networkers by using the same list-server to share information between the groups. Any e-mails specific to the Hopkinton Networking Group (HNG) will be indicated in the subject line either by "Hopkinton Networking Group" or "HNG"; this way anyone attending these meetings will know the e-mail is intended for them.

We will follow the following agenda items:
Welcome
Landings (with doughnuts)
Announcements
New member introductions
Needs and Leads
Speaker(s), Workshop, or Focus Group
Cleanup

For those new members who give their introductions, this is what we would like to know:
Name
Skills and Value Statement
Where have you been?
Where are you going?
Your title
Your target companies
Geography of search
Name and e-mail address

If anyone wants to join our team, please let one of us know; we could always use the extra help and input for ideas.

Directions:
Take Rt. 495 North/South and get off Exit 21A. Go through three traffic lights. Colella's Supermarket is on the right at the third traffic light. The first street after the third traffic light is Church Street, take a right turn. The church is on the right. Go around to the left of the parking lot and go into the side entrance of the parish hall.
Depending upon where you live, perhaps you may want to use Mapquest for a more direct route. The address of the church is:
St. John the Evangelist
20 Church Street
Hopkinton, MA 01748

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

Despite the gloomy outlook for the national economy, Boston has "one of the strongest" employment outlooks in the nation, according to a new survey from Manpower. Third quarter hiring is expected to be stronger than the second quarter, with 25 percent of employers in the Boston metro area saying they plan to increase staff levels, according The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey. The survey reports that areas of strong growth include construction, durable and non-durable goods manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, information, and leisure and hospitality, among other...

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Hello Everyone,
The agenda for this Friday's Hopkinton Networkers Group (HNG) meeting will be featured by a workshop on Interview Questions. The facilitator for this week will be Salpi Sarafian. We will devote the first hour, from 10 to 11 AM to the following agenda: Welcome, Landings, Announcements, New Member Intros, and Needs & Leads. Please arrive early, so we can make every effort to start on time. In the second hour, a workshop on Interview Questions will be done.

Workshop on Interview Questions

The procedure will be as follows:
The facilitator, Salpi, initially chooses someone to be interviewed, e.g., Marilyn. Marilyn picks an interview question from the coffee can of questions and then Salpi asks Marilyn this question. She responds and the attendees analyze / critique her response. Marilyn then selects someone to interview, e.g., Joe. Joe chooses a question from the coffee can and Marilyn acts as the interviewer and asks him the question he picked. Joe responds and those present analyze / critique his response. Joe then chooses someone to interview, and so on, and so on. In the past when we had many attend the meetings, we broke out into small groups and went into the classrooms, and the facilitator in each room acted as the interviewer. This was nice and effective; however, we did not have the advantage of hearing responses from the other classrooms. With our lower attendance numbers, now everyone can share in the analysis of the responses plus be both interviewer and interviewee. This will get more people involved and a good interaction within the group.

The networking group meets in Hopkinton, at St. John the Evangelist Church parish hall. The meeting occurs, from 10 to 12 noon, and will meet the first and third Friday of the month. The parish hall has a capacity for 250 people and there is plenty of parking spaces in the parking lot and on the street. Around the perimeter of the parish hall are rooms to allow us to have focused network groups or for any other purpose we need. We chose every other Friday to allow everyone to attend the Acton Networking Group or any other networking group, if they wanted, on the Friday we do not meet.

We will maintain our close affiliation with Acton Networkers by using the same list-server to share information between the groups. Any e-mails specific to the Hopkinton Networking Group (HNG) will be indicated in the subject line either by "Hopkinton Networking Group" or "HNG"; this way anyone attending these meetings will know the e-mail is intended for them.

We will follow the following agenda items:
Welcome
Landings (with doughnuts)
Announcements
New member introductions
Needs and Leads
Speaker(s), Workshop, or Focus Group
Cleanup

For those new members who give their introductions, this is what we would like to know:
Name
Skills and Value Statement
Where have you been?
Where are you going?
Your title
Your target companies
Geography of search
Name and e-mail address

If anyone wants to join our team, please let one of us know; we could always use the extra help and input for ideas.

Directions:
Take Rt. 495 North/South and get off Exit 21A. Go through three traffic lights. Colella's Supermarket is on the right at the third traffic light. The first street after the third traffic light is Church Street, take a right turn. The church is on the right. Go around to the left of the parking lot and go into the side entrance of the parish hall.

Depending upon where you live, perhaps you may want to use Mapquest for a more direct route. The address of the church is: